Apparatus for exchanging bobbins in textile machine



March 1969 SlNlCHl HAMAHATA 3,433,005

APPARATUS FOR EXCHANGING BGBBINS IN TEXTILE MACHINE Filed March 7, 1967 Sheet of 12 March 18, I969 SINICHI HAMAHATA 3,433,006

APPARATUS FOR EXCHANGING BOBBINS IN TEXTILE MACHINE Filed March 7, 1967 Sheet 2 of 12 March 18, 1969 SINICHI HAMAHATA 3,433,006

APPARATUS FOR EXCHANGING BOBBINS IN TEXTILE MACHINE Filed March 7, 1967 Sheet 3 of 12 March 13, I969 SINICHI HAMAHATA 3,433,006

APPARATUS FOR EXCHANGING BOBBINS IN TEXTILE MACHINE Filed March 7, 1967 Sheet 4 of 12 March 1969 SlNICHl HAMAHATA 3,433,005

APPARATUS FOR EXCHANGING BOBBINS IN TEXTILE MACHINE Filed March 7, 1967 Sheet 5 of 12 March 18, 1959 SlNlCHl HAMAHATA 3,433,006

APPARATUS FOR EXCHANGING BCBBINS IN TEXTILE MACHINE Filed March 7, 1967 Sheet 6 of 12 FIG. H F|G.i2

March 18, I969 SINICHI HAMAHATA 3,433,006

APPARATUS FOR EXCHANGING BOBBINS IN TEXTILE MACHINE Sheet Filed March 7, 1967 March 1969 SlNlCHl HAMAHATA 3,433

APPARATUS FOR EXCHANGING BOBBINS IN TEXTILE MACHINE Filed March 7, 1967 Sheet of 12 FIG. 15 *1 500 J 4i I; I] [I H 69 J- I o 1 l i Ll i a f 72 5O 41 I March 18, 1969 SINICHI HAMAHATA 3,433,006

APPARATUS FOR EXCHANGING BOBBINS IN TEXTILE MACHINE Filed March 7, 1967 Sheet 9 of 12 FIG. 17

FIG. i8

March 1969 SINICHI HAMAHATA 3,433,

APPARATUS FOR EXCHANGING BOBBINS IN TEXTILE MACHINE Filed March 7, 1967 Sheet /0 of 12 FIG. 2i FIG. 23A

FIG. 23B

March 18, 1969 SINICHI HAMAHATA 3,433,006

APPARATUS FOR EXCHANGING BOBBINS IN TEXTILE MACHINE Filed March 7, 1967 Sheet of 12 FIG. 25A FIG. 2

March 1969 SINICHI HAMAHATA 3,433,096

APPARATUS FOR EXCHANGING BGBBIN IN TEXTILE MACHINE Filed March 7, 1967 Sheet /3 of 12 FIG. 26A FIG. 26B

United States Patent 21 Claims Int. Cl. Dillh 9/10, 13/10 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An improved apparatus for dofling full packaged cops produced by textile machines such as conventional ring frame, ring twister, draw twister, one after another, and for inserting bare bobbins on the spindles from which the full-packaged cops have just been doffed while the apparatus is displaced along the spindle rail from one end of the textile machine to the other. In the apparatus, the dofiing operation is performed by the frictional contact of a spiral shaped doliing roller with the yarn surface of the full packaged cops during the rotation of the dofiing roller and the displacement of the apparatus along the spindle rail of the textile machine.

The present invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for automatically exchanging bobbins, particularly, relates to an automatic apparatus for doffing full-packaged cops produced by textile machines such as the conventional ring spinning frame, ring twister, draw twister, etc. one after another, and for inserting bare bobbins on the spindles from which the full-packaged cops have just been doifed while the automatic exchanging apparatus is displaced along the spindle rail from one end of the textile machine to the other.

Generally, the means for dofling full-packaged cops from the respective spindles of the textile machine can be classified into the following three types, that is the method of gripping the top portion of the cops, the method of pushing up the bottom portion of the bobbin in such a way that the bottom portion of the bobbin is pushed up by an inclined surface of a dofling plate which is mounted on the dofiing apparatus and the method of using frictional contact of a dofiing roller with full-packaged cops. The present invention can be considered as an improved apparatus which operates by the third dofting method mentioned above.

In the above-mentioned third dofiing method, the ring separator mounted on the ring rail of the textile machine interferes with the working operation of the dofling roller, consequently, the ring separator must be receded from the working position of the dofiing roller during the dofiing operation, or the contact speed of the dofiing roller must be increased when the stationary separator is used, and the working position of the dofling roller is so chosen that the dofiing roller acts on the cops without interference by the uppermost portion of the separator. Both of the above-mentioned methods are very complicated and moreover, in case the contact speed of the dotting roller is increased, the yarn layer of the cops is injured by the excess frictional force with the dofiing roller.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for automatically exchanging bobbins which utilizes the method of dofiing full-packaged cops from the respective spindles of a textile machine by using frictional contact of a rotating roller with fullpackaged cops without any relation to the ring separator 3,433,006 Patented Mar. 18, 1969 mounted on the ring rail of the textile machine while the exchanging apparatus is displaced along the spindle rail of the textile machine.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for dofling full-packaged cops and inserting bare bobbins onto the respective spindles, which can be used for any conventional ring frames, ring twister, draw twister, etc. at low installation cost.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a practical automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus having very simple construction and which can be operated easily.

Further objects and features of the invention will more fully appear from the following description and the accompanying drawings and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

FIG. 1 is an elevation, with the cover plate partly removed, of an embodiment of the automatic bobbin exchanging machine of the invention,

FIG. 2 is a back view, with the cover plate partly removed, of the automatic bobbin exchanging machine shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a side view of the automatic bobbin exchanging machine shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a side view of the other side, with the cover plate partly removed, of the automatic bobbin exchanging machine shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is an elevation of the doffing roller mechanism of the invention,

FIGS. 6 and 7 are explanatory drawings for showing the doffing action of the dofling roller mechanism shown in FIG. 5,

FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 are a perspective view, elevation and side view respectively, of the driving mechanism of the dofling roller and its related motion of the invention,

FIGS. 11 and 12 are an elevation and side view, respectively, of the tensioning device which works before the doffing motion and is attached to the bobbin exchanging machine of the invention,

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the releasing mechanism for releasing the engagement of the full-packaged cops from the respective spindles of the invention,

FIG. 14 is an enlarged perspective view of the working portion of the releasing mechanism shown in FIG. 13,

FIGS. 15 and 1 6 are explanatory drawings for showing how the engagement of the full-packaged cops is released from the respective spindles of the invention,

FIGS. 17, 18 and 19 are a plan view and side view, respectively, of the working condition of another embodiment of the releasing mechanism for releasing the engagement of the full-packaged cop from the respective spindles,

FIG. 20 is an explanatory drawing of the releasing mechanism shown in FIG. 17,

FIG. 21 is a side view of yarn end cutting and supporting device for use with the doffing cops, according to the invention,

FIGS. 22, 23 and 24 are explanatory drawings for showing the action of yarn end cutting and supporting device shown in FIG. 21, respectively,

FIGS. 24A and 24B are explanatory drawings for showing the undesirable condition of yarn end between the traveller and the yarn guide of the lappet, before inserting the bare bobbin onto the spindle,

FIGS. 25A, 25B and 25C are explanatory drawings of a contacting device disposed on the automatic bobbin exchanging machine for shifting the yarn end between the traveller and the yarn guide of the lappet so as to provide free insertion of the bobbin onto the spindle,

FIGS. 26A and 26B are side and front views, respectively, showing the main part of the bare bobbin supplying device disposed on the automatic bobbin exchanging device according to the invention.

General construction of the automatic bobbin exchanging machine of the invention Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4, the automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus of the invention (hereinafter called the automatic doffer) comprises a dofiing device for doffing full-packaged cops from the respective spindles of the textile machine by frictional contact force of a dofling roller 2, a device for inserting bare bobbins on the respective bare spindles .3 from which the full-packaged cops have just been doffed, a feeding device 4 for feeding bare bobbins to the above-mentioned mechanism for inserting bare bobbins on the respective bare spindles, a tension device 5 for providing yarn with tension during the dofiing operation, a releasing device for releasing the engagement of the bobbins of full package cops with the respective spindles and means for defining the stop position of the respective spindles. The automatic doifer H of the invention is provided with a pair of grooved guide rollers 6, 6', a pair of guide rollers 7, 7' and wheels 8 and 8, as shown in the drawing. The dofling apparatus 1 can be moved to the installed position of any textile machine by manual operation. For this purpose, the handle 9 is disposed on the side of the doffing apparatus. When it is necessary to operate the bobbin exchanging operation by the automatic doffer 1 of the invention, first, the automatic doifer 1 is positioned at one end, for example, at the out end, of the textile machine in such a way that the grooved guide rollers 6, 6 ride on a guide rail 10 secured to a bracket 12 disposed on the spindle rail 13 and the guide rollers 7, 7 con tact with the bottom flange 13 of the spindle rail 13. In the above-mentioned condition, wheels 8 rest on the fioor of the spinning room. A pinion 14 is secured to a pinion shaft (not shown) mounted on the machine frame of the automatic doffer 1 in such a way that the pinion 14 engages with the rack 11 on the guide rail 10 while the grooved guide rollers 6, 6 ride on the guide rail 10. The dotting roller 2 is driven by the rotation of the pinion 14 through a power transmission means hereinafter described. Three hooks 15, 16 and 17 are turna-bly mounted on the front side of the automatic doifer 1, as shown in FIG. 2, in such a way that the books 15, 16 and 17 act as actuating members for starting the motion of the respective operations of the dofiing device, releasing device for releasing the engagement of the bobbin of full package with the respective spindles and as means for defining the stop position of the respective spindles. Therefore, it is not necessary to use any power source for operation of the automatic doffer 1.

The automatic doifer 1 is provided with a space 19 disposed in its lower portion for permitting insertion of a container, a container supporter 20 hingedly mounted at its lower end and a guide plate 21 for guiding doifed cops to the container inserted into the space 19 or supported on the container supporter 20.

Mechanism of the dofling device and its operation Referring to FIGS. 5, 6, 7 and 8, the dofiiug roller 2 of the invention comprises a shaft 2a, a spiral roller 2b and an end portion 20 forming a coaxial pulley. The shaft 2a is horizontally and rotatably supported by a supporting bracket 23a as shown in FIGS. 5 and 8. The spiral roller 2b is made of elastic material such as synthetic rubber and has a spiral spacing corresponding to the spindle pitch.

The top end of the screw thread of the spiral roller 2b is so defined that, when the doffing roller 2 comes to the clotting position, the top end of the spiral roller 2b can engage the yarn surface of the full-packaged cop 18. The radial thickness of the spiral roller 2b from the axis of the shaft 2a is gradually increased toward the end portion 2c, and finally, the maximum thickness of the spiral roller 2b is so defined that the last end portion of the spiral roller 21; can contact with the spindle 3. The depth of the spiral grooves of the doffing roller 2, that is, the thickness of the shaft 20, is so defined that the shaft 2a does not contact with the ring separator 32 during the doffing operation. The working position of the dotting roller 2 must be chosen so as to avoid contact with the anti-node ring 39.

The shaft 2a of the dofiing roller 2 is rotatably supported by a swing bracket 23a as shown in FIG. 8. The swing bracket 23a is projected from a boss 23b swingably mounted on a shaft 26a. A lever 230 is also projected from the boss 23b. A boss 25!) is turnably mounted on a supporting shaft 28 and levers 25a and 250 are projected horizontally from the boss 25b as shown in the drawing. The end portion of both levers 23c and 25a are connected by a connecting rod 24 by means of pins. A helical spring 26c is mounted on the shaft 26a in such a way that the end of the spring 26c secured to the frame of the automatic doifer and the other end of the spring 260 presses the lever 23c so as to always turn the bracket 23a in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 8.

The end of the lever 250 is normally supported on a supporting catch 29:: turnably mounted on the machine frame of the automatic doffer 1 when the automatic dotfer 1 is not operating. Consequently, the bracket 23a is normally maintained at the non-working position. When the automatic doifer 1 is displaced along the spindle rail for bobbin exchanging operation, the top end portion of the lever 25c slides on an inclined surface 30a of a cam 30 rotatably mounted on the spindle rail 13 by a pin 30c and resiliently held in position by a spring 30d connected to a pin 3011. When the top end portion of the lever 25c is shifted upward, the catch 29a turnably mounted on the frame of the automatic dotfer 1 turns clockwise by the pulling force of a spring 290 and the lever 250 is dropped into a cut groove 29b of the frame. C nsequently, the swing bracket 23a is turned in the counterclockwise direction for starting the doffing operation. When the automatic doffer 1 arrives at the end portion of the frame of the spinning machine, another cam (not shown) acts on the end portion of the lever 25c and shifts the lever 25c upward so as to recede the dofiing roller 2 from its working position by displacing the lever 250 on the supporting catch 29a. The end portion 20 of the doffing roller 2 and the end portion 26b of the shaft 26a are formed as pulleys and an endless belt 27 transmits the rotation of the shaft 26a to the dotfing roller 2 as shown in FIG. 8. During the dofiing operation by the dotfing roller 2, the dofiing roller 2 is displaced along the spindle rail 13 in such a way that the dofling roller 2 makes one revolution in the clockwise direction in FIG. 8 while the automatic doffer 1 is displaced a distance corresponding to one spindle distance. It is desirable to choose the radial thickness of the spiral roller 12b so it can doff the full-packaged cops by one half revolution. Concerning the turning direction of the spiral roller 2b, it should be chosen according to how the automatic dotfer is to be displaced, that is, whether the automatic dofier 1 is displaced from the gear end to the out end of the spinning machine or from the out end to the gear end of the spinning machine.

Mechanism of tension device and its operation Referring to FIGS. 11 and 12, the dofiing operation is performed by the frictional contact of the doffing roller 2 with the respective full-packaged cops 18, consequently, if the yarn 22 extending between the traveller 36 and snail wire 44 is held at the contacting side of the fullpackaged cop 18 with the dofiing roller 2, there is possibility of breakage of the yarn 22. Moreover, it is desirable to avoid formation of snarled portion 22' of the yarn 22 to prevent yarn breakage by the doffing operation due to such snarled portion 22'. The functional feature of the tension device is to provide the yarn 22 extending between the traveller 36 and the snail wire 44 with suitable tension so as to eliminate formation of the snarled portion 22' and to displace the riding position of the traveller 36 on the ring 35 toward the inside of the spinning machine. By the inward displacement of the traveller 36, the yarn 22 extending between the traveller 36 and the snail wire 44 is receded from the contacting side of the full-packaged cop 18 with the dofling roller 2.

The tension device 5 comprises a curved plate 5a and a friction belt portion 5b secured to the curved plate 5a, as shown in the drawing. It is desirable to use some kind of a velvet type fabric or spongy rubber sheet as the material for the friction belt 5b. The setting position of the tension device 5 on the automatic doffer 1 is so chosen that the curved plate 5:: can turn a lappet 45 supporting the snail wire 44 upward when the automatic doffer 1 is displaced forwardly, the tension device 5 touches the yarn 22 extending between the traveller 36 and the snail wire 44, and then the friction belt 51) pulls the yarn 22 in the forward direction of the automatic doffer 1 while the curved plate 5a passes behind and upon the full packaged cop 18, as shown in FIG. 12. Consequently, the yarn 22 is pulled to the position behind the full-packaged cop 18. As the passage of yarn 22 between the snail wire 44 and the traveller 36 becomes longer when the friction belt 5b pulls the yarn 22, even if there is some snarl 22' of yarn, the snarl 22 of yarn can be eliminated. The above-mentioned operation is performed at almost the same time as the releasing motion for releasing the engagement of the bobbin 18' with the respective spindles hereinafter described. As it is clearly shown in FIG. 11, the dotting roller 2 is disposed to the automatic doffer at a somewhat backward position to the tension device 5, the domng operation of the doffing roller 2 can be operated without any contact with the yarn 22, therefore, the high speed dofiing motion can be performed without any trouble, including yarn breakage. Moreover, the bare bobbin supplying motion can be operated very smoothly without any interference by entanglement of yarn, which is spirally wound around the spindle 3, with the bare bobbin when the bare bobbin is supplied to the respective spindle. Consequently, the working efiiciency of the doffing operation can be materially improved by utilizing the above-mentioned tension device.

Means for defining the stop position of the spindle In the drawings of FIGS. 13, 14, 21, 22, 23A and 23B, an embodiment of means for defining the stop position of the spindle according to the invention are shown. A yarn cutting ring 50 is disposed upon the spindle wharve 41 of the spindle 3 (FIG. 23A). The yarn cutting ring comprises an upper ring portion 50c, a lower ring portion 50d and a pair of connecting portions 50a and 50b symmetrically arranged between the upper ring portion 50c and the lower ring portion 500', as shown in FIG. 23B. The bottom end of the bobbin 18' can pass freely through the aperture 50e of the upper ring portion 500.

In the final step of the spinning operation, the ring rail 35 is shifted toward the doffing position and the yarn 22 is wound around the cutting ring 50 by the inertial rotation of the spindle 3 as shown in FIG. 21. When the fullpackaged cop 18 is dotfed, the yarn 22 is cut at the portion between the yarn wound around the cutting ring 50 and the full-packaged cop 18. Consequently, yarn breakage due to poor insertion of bare bobbin 18' onto the spindle 3 can be completely prevented by using the above-mentioned cutting ring 50. On the other hand, the releasing motion for releasing the engagement of the full-packaged bobbin from the spindle 3 becomes difficult to operate in the above-mentioned case of using the cutting ring 5t]; To eliminate the difficulty of using the cutting ring 50, means for defining the stop position of the spindle 3 with the cutting ring 50 must be considered. In FIG. 22, the principle of the operation for defining the stop position of the spindle 3 is shown. The path of a shifting plate 51 of the automatic dotfer is so defined that the front edge of the shifting plate 51 passes the spindle 3 in a slightly contacting condition. Therefore, in case the spindle 3 is to be stopped as shown in case (I) in FIG. 22, when the shifting plate 51 is displaced toward the left hand direction in FIG. 22, the top end portion of the shifting plate 51 pushes the connecting portion 50b toward the left hand direction in FIG. 22, consequently, the spindle 3 is turned clockwise till the connecting portion 50b permits free passage of the shifting plate 51 as shown in FIG. 22(III). On the other hand, in case the spindle 3 is stopped as shown in FIG. 22(IV), when the shifting plate 51 is displaced toward the left hand direction in FIG. 22, the top end of the shifting plate 51 contacts with the connecting portion 50a of the cutting ring 50. If the shifting plate 51 is supported by the automatic doffer 1 in such a way that the shifting plate 51 can be receded from the perpendicular direction to the displacing direction of the automatic doffer 1 as shown by the arrow A in FIG. 22, the cutting ring is rotated clockwise while the shifting plate is receded and displaced forward as shown in FIG. 22(V) and (VI). And finally, the cutting ring 50 is stopped together with the spindle 3 as shown in FIG. 22(VII). At the stopping condition of the spindle 3 shown in FIG. 22(III) and FIG. 22(VII), the releasing motion for releasing the engagement of the full-packaged cop 18 from the spindle 3 can be operated without any interference.

Referring to FIGS. 13 and 14, the shifting plate 51 is slideably supported by a guide plate 62 horizontally secured to a swing bracket 57. The shifting plate 51 is always pushed forward by a spring 64 connecting the guide plate 62 with a pin 51c rigidly secured to the shifting plate 51 and a stop 51b acts to restrict the forward movement of the shifting plate 51. The swing bracket 57 is turnably supported by a shaft 56 in such a way that the swing bracket 57 always tends to turn counterclockwise around the shaft 56 by the resilient force of a spring 58 mounted on the shaft 56 as shown in the drawings. The shaft 56 is supported by a pair of bearings projected from a beam 54 of the automatic dofier 1. The swing bracket 57 is provided with a horizontal arm 57a projected from the lower portion thereof. A hook 33, turnably mounted on the frame of the automatic doffer 1 by a pin 34, supports the top end portion of the horizontal arm 57a as shown in FIG. 14, when the automatic doffer 1 is not working. A spring 63 biases the hook 33 in a clockwise direction. A stopper hook 61 is turnably supported by a pin shaft 60 secured to the swing bracket 57 at its opened portion 59 in such a way that the stopper hook 61 always tends to turn in the counterclockwise direction by a spring 65 connecting the stopper hook 61 and the swing bracket 57. The hook portion of the stopper hook 61 engages with a step portion 61' of the frame 29 when the automatic doffer 1 is not working. When the automatic doffer 1 is positioned at the working position and is displaced toward the left hand direction as shown by an arrow in FIG. 13, the top end portion of the horizontal arm 57a is disengaged from a cam mechanism (not shown) secured to the machine frame of the spinning machine, the swing bracket 57 is turned counterclockwise, and the hook portion of the stopper hook 61 is engaged with the step portion 61' of the frame 29 of the automatic dotfer 1 so as to temporarily fix the forward position of the swing arm 57. Consequently, the shifting plate 51 is displaced from the non-working position shown in FIG. 14 to the working position shown in FIG. 13. At the end portion of the machine frame 52, 53 of the spinning machine, a pair of stationary cams 52' and 53' is respectively secured in such a way that the cam 52 turns the horizontal arm 57a clockwise so as to displace the top end portion of the horizontal arm 57a on the hook 61 upwardly, and the cam 53' releases the engagement of the stopper hook 61 from the step 61 when the automatic doifer 1 comes to the working position of the cam 52', respectively. Therefore, when the automatic dofier 1 comes to an end of the spinning machine, that is, when the automatic doffing motion for a plurality of spindles on one side of the spinning machine is finished, the shifting plate 51 is again displaced to the non-working position by the action of the cams 52' and 53'.

Mechanism of releasing device for releasing the engage ment of the bobbins of full packages from the respective spindles and its operation Referring to FIGS. 13, 14, and 16, a releasing device for releasing the engagement of the bobbins of full-packaged cops with the respective spindles comprises a kickplate 66 turnably pivoted to an upper end portion of a bracket 67 by a pin 71. The bracket 67 is also turnably mounted on the shaft 56 in such a way that the bracket 67 always tends to turn in the counterclockwise direction by the pressing force of a spring 68 mounted on the shaft 56. A horizontally extending arm 70 is projected from the lower portion of the bracket 67 and a stopper hook 69 is pivoted at its end to the middle portion of the bracket 67 in such a way that the stopper hook 69 is always pulled downward by a spring 69' connecting the stopper hook 69 with the bracket 67. The functions of the arm 70 and the stopper hook 69 are exactly same as those of the respective functions of the arm 57a and the stopper book 61, that is, the earns 52' and 53 act on the stopper hook 69 and the arm 70 in the same manner as on the stopper hook 61 and the arm 57a. When the bracket 67 is maintained in the position shown by the solid lines in FIGS. 15 and 16, by the engagement of the stopper hook 69 with the step portion of the frame 29, the kick-plate 66 can perform its operation on the bottom end of the bobbin 18'. However, when the bracket 67 is maintained in the position shown by the dotted lines in FIG. 15, from the step portion of the frame 29, the kick-plate 66 is placed in the nonworking condition by the disengagement of the stopper hook 69. The above-mentioned operative position of the kick plate 66 is obtained by the action of cams for turning the bracket 67 and defining the engaging condition of the stopper hook 69 with the step portion of the frame 29, by the same means as that of the shifting plate 51 described above.

The kick plate 66 always tends to turn in the counterclockwise direction by a spring 72 disposed between the kick-plate 66 and the upper end portion of the bracket 67. Therefore, the end portion (right end portion in FIGS. 15 and 16) of the kick-plate 66 always contacts with the rotating cam 73 disposed on the kick-plate and mounted on the shaft 26a which is rotated once for each displacement of the automatic doffer 1 by one spindle distance. The profile of the cam 73 is so defined that the top end of the kick-plate 66 can be sufiiciently swung so as to release the engagement of the bobbin 18' from the spindle 3.

When the automatic doffer 1 is displaced along the spindle rail 13, the respective bobbins 18' are provided with the action of the shifting plate 51 at first so as to define the stop position of the spindles 3 with the cutting ring as shown in FIG. 22(III) or FIG. 22(VII), then the bobbins 18, the stop position of whose spindle 3 have been defined are subjected to the action of the kick-plate 66, that is, the top end of the kick-plate 66 contacts the spindle 3 as shown in FIG. 15, and then kicks the bottom end of the bobbin 18 upward when the kick-plate 66 is turned in the clockwise direction by the action of the rotating cam 73, consequently, the engagement of the bobbin 18 with the spindle 3 can be released completely.

In the drawings of FIGS. 17, 18, 19 and 20, another embodiment of the releasing device for releasing the engagement of the bobbins of full package cops from the respective spindles without using the cutting ring is shown. A base member 75 is secured to the automatic dofler 1 and a pair of projecting pieces 78, 78' are disposed on the base member 75. The projecting pieces 78, 78' are pro vided with a saw-tooth portion 7 6 and the respective long aperture 77 as shown in the drawing. A releasing member 79 is turnably supported by a small shaft 81 supported by the projecting pieces 78, 78'. The releasing member 79 is provided, as one piece, with a pushing piece 80 having a slightly shorter length than the spindle pitch at its front end portion. The pushing piece 80 comprises an upper inclined surface 8012 having a horizontal portion 80a at its front portion and a stepped portion 800 at its lower end portion as shown in FIG. 20. The pushing piece 80 is always pushed in the forward direction by the pushing force of a spring 82, one of whose end is secured to the base member 75 and the other end is secured to the releasing member 79 as shown in FIG. 18. The rear end of the releasing member 79 is turned upward around the small shaft 81 by a plate spring 83 se' cured at one end of its end to the base member 75. A group of catch plates 84 are swingably mounted on a small shaft 85 passing through a rear portion of the releasing member 79, the group of catch plates 84 comprises a plurality of catch plates 84 having different lengths corresponding to the pitch of the saw-teeth 76. The respective catch plates 84 are always contacted at their rear ends with the saw-teeth 76 by a plate spring 86 secured to the releasing member 79. When the automatic doffer 1 is displaced along the spindle rail toward the direction shown by an arrow in FIG. 17, the horizontal portion 80a of the pushing piece 80 enters the space between the upper surface 3' of the spindle sleeve and the bottom end of the bobbin 18 of the full-packaged cop 18 and the side 80d of the pushing piece 30 comes in contact with the circumference of the spindle 3. When the automatic doiter 1 is displaced further forward, the step portion 80c of the pushing piece 80 comes in contact with the upper surface 3' of the spindle sleeve, the releasing member 79 turns around the small shaft 81 counterclockwise, one of the catch plates 84 becomes engaged with one of the saw-teeth 76, consequently, the position of the pushing piece 80 is temporarily fixed. Thereby, as a result of the forward displacement of the automatic dotfer 1, the inclined surface 80b pushes the bottom end of the bobbin 18' upward, by which the releasing motion can be operated smoothly. Even if the respective spindles 3 are not installed in a straight line, the working position of the pushing piece 80 can be adjusted automatically by the spring 82. The above-mentioned releasing operation is repeated for each spindle of the spinning machine while the automatic doffer 1 is displaced along the spindle rail 13.

Device for inserting bare bobbins on the respective bare spindles and its related motion Referring to FIGS. 24A, 24B, 25A, 25B and 25C, when bobbins 101 are reserved in the bobbin container 4a of the feeding device 4, as shown in the drawing. In the container 4a, a bare bobbin shifter 100 is provided. The bare bobbin shifter 100 comprises an elevating lattice 98, a pair of chain brackets 96 supporting the elevating lattice 98, upper sprocket wheels 97 secured to an upper shaft 99 rotatably supported by the frame of the container 4a, and the lower sprocket wheels secured to a lower shaft 94 rotatably supported by the frame of the container 4. Each lattice forms a dish-shaped bobbin holder. A sprocket wheel 95' is also secured to the shaft 94 which is driven by the driving chain 93 rotated by a sprocket wheel 89 secured to a lower driving shaft 88. The shaft 88 is driven by a power transmitting means including a clutch mechanism 89' disposed on the shaft 88. A shaft 87 is coaxially disposed to the machine frame of the automatic doffer 1 in such a way that a bevel gear secured to the shaft 87 meshes with a bevel gear 14' coaxially secured to a shaft of the pinion 14. When the automatic doffer 1 is displaced along the spindle rail 13 for the dofiing operation, the pinion 14 meshes with the rack 11, therefore, the pinion 14 rotates by the forward displacement of the automatic doffer 1.

Consequently, the shaft 26a (FIGS. 8 and 1) is r0- tated through the gear train comprising a pair of gears 91 and 92. When the clutch 89' is maintained in its working condition by operating handle 103, the clutch 89 is placed in the working condition, therefore the shaft 88 is rotated 50 as to drive the bobbin shifter 100 upward. A plurality of bobbins 101 reserved in the container 4a are carried upward by the bobbin shifter 100 one by one and supplied to a conduit 102 as shown in FIGS. 26A and 26B, and the bare bobbins 101 are fed to the respective spindles 3 one by one while the outlet of the bare bobbin supplying conduit 102 passes in front of the respective spindles which are in a waiting condition.

Referring to FIGS. 24A, 24B, 25A, 25B and 250, when the spindle 3 is stopped, the traveller 36 stops at an indefinite position on the ring 35. When the traveller 36 stops at a position designated by a in case the spindles are to be rotated in the clockwise direction, or stops at b position in case the spindles are to be rotated in the counterclockwise direction, the yarn 22 extending between the traveller 36 and the snail wire 44 has a tendency to contact with the spindle 3 in a crossing condition as shown in FIG. 24B. When the bare bobbin 18' is supplied to the spindle 3 in such a condition, the yarn 22 is sometimes held between the bottom end of the bare bobbin 18 and the sleeve of the spindle 3, thereby when the spindle starts to rotate, the yarn 22 is cut instantly. To prevent the above-mentioned trouble, it is desirable to use means for rotating bare bobbin 18' during its inserting motion to the spindle. In the drawing of FIGS. 25A, 25B, and 25C, an embodiment of the above-mentioned means can be applied for the case of rotating spindle 3 in the clockwise direction. A contact member 106 covered with some elastic material is supported by an arm 107 secured to the automatic dolfer 1 in such a way that the contact member 106 contacts with the bare bobbin 18' when the bobbin 18' is inserted on the spindle 3. As the automatic doffer 1 is displaced toward the right hand direction shown by an arrow, when the contact member 106 contacts with the bare bobbin 18' which is being inserted onto the spindle 3, the bare bobbin 18' is rotated in the clockwise direction, consequently, even if the bottom end of the bare bobbin 18' lands on the yarn 2 2, the yarn 22 is displaced toward the front side of the bare bobbin 18' as shown in FIG. 25C, and the holding of yarn 22 be tween the bottom end of the bare bobbin 18' and the sleeve of the spindle can be prevented.

It will be understood that the embodiment of the invention disposed herein is of an illustrative character and is not restrictive and that various changes in form, construction and arrangement of parts may be made within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus for use in a textile machine having at least one spindle rail whereon a row of spaced spindles are disposed with a constant spindle distance, comprising a carriage movable along said spindle rail; driving means mounted on said carriage; means mounted on said carriage for releasing bobbins of full package cops from the respective spindles, rotatable dofiing device mounted on said carriage and comprising a roller driven by said driving means and engageable with full package cops for dofling successively from the spindle full package cops already released from the spindles by the action of said releasing means; bobbin supplying means mounted on said carriage and driven by said drive means for inserting bare bobbins on spindles from which bobbins of full packaged cops have just been doffed.

2. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said rotatable dofling device comprises a spiral dofiing roller having a spiral package-engaging surface for taking off said bobbins of full packaged from said spindles by a rotational contact with said full packaged cops.

3. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said spiral dotting roller is supported by a horizontal shaft mounted on said carriage by a swing bracket and is provided with a spiral groove having a constant pitch which is equal to the spindle distance, the radial thickness of said spiral roller being gradually increased toward the mounting portion of said horizontal shaft on said swing bracket.

4. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said spiral roller is made of an elastic material.

5. An automatic bobbin exchaning apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said spiral groove of said spiral roller is of suflicient depth to prevent said shaft from contacting with any elements of said textile machine when said carriage is displaced along said spindle rail.

6. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said doffing roller is supported by a horizontal shaft mounted on said carriage by a swing bracket, and actuating means is provided for turning said swing bracket from a non-working position to a working position of said dofiing roller when said carriage starts its displacement along said spindle rail.

7. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for actuating said driving means mounted on said carriage when said carriage is displaced along said spindle rail.

8. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said means for actuating said driving means comprises a rack supported by said spindle rail, a pinon engaging said raok and rotatably supported by said carriage and a power transmission mechanism for transmitting the rotation of said pinon to said rotatable doffing device and said bobbin supply means when said pinon engages with said rack during the displacement of said carriage along said spindle rail.

9. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising correcting means mounted on said carriage for correcting the doffing position of said spindles, wherein a cylindrical attachment is mounted in a position upon the spindle 'wharve of each spindle.

10. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus for textile machine according to claim 9, wherein said means for correcting the doffin-g position of spindles comprising a supporting bracket Uurnably mounted on a shaft disposed on said carriage in a parallel relation with said spindle rail, a shifting plate slidably mounted on a top portion of said supporting bracket, actuating means for turning said supporting bracket to said spindle rails when said carriage starts to displace along said spindle rail, the position of the front end of said shifting plate being so selected that said front end contacts spindles through a side aperture of said cylindrical attachment of the spindles when said supporting bracket is turned to said spindle rail.

11. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said shifting plate slidably mounted on said top end portion of supporting bracket is provided with a spring cushion.

12. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising means for eliminating snarled yarn extending from said spindles from which the full packaged cops have just been doifed to yarn deliveries of said textile machine mounted on said carriage.

13. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said means for eliminating snarled yarn comprising a tension device horizontally disposed on said carriage at a forward side of said carriage, said tension device being provided with a curved plate and a friction belt disposed on a bottom end portion of said curved plate, the position of said curved plate corresponding to the yarn path between said spindles and yarn deliveries of said textile machine, whereby when said carriage is displaced, said curved plate of said tension device first contacts with said yarns between said spindles and yarn deliveries of said textile machine and said yarns 111 are then pulled in the forward direction of said carriage by said friction belt.

14. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said friction belt of said tension device is covered by a material having roughened surface.

15. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising bobbin-turning means mounted on said carriage for turning bobbins when bare bobbins are inserting on spindles from which bob-bins of full packaged cops have just been dotted.

16. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus for textile machine according to claim 15, wherein said bobbin turning means comprising a contact member horizontally supported by said carriage at a selected position, whereby when said carriage is displacing and a bare bobbin is supplied to a spindle, said contact member contacts with the bare bobbin being inserted on said spindle in a downward direction.

17. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said contact member is covered with an elastic material.

18. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said releasing means comprising a supporting means turnably mounted on a shaft disposed on said carriage in a parallel relation with said spindle rail, a kick plate pivotably supported by said supporting means, a cam driven by said driving means always contacting with said kick plate to swing once at each displacement of said carriage corresponding to a spindle distance, an actuating means for turning said supporting means from a non-working position of said kick plate to a working position of said kick plate, whereby when said supporting means turns to said Working position by an action of said actuating means, an end of said kick plate kicks up a bottom end of a bobbin of full package, the engagement of said bobbin with its spindle being thereby released.

19. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said releasing means comprising a base member disposed on said carriage at a position corresponding to bottom ends of bobbins mounted on said spindles, a releasing member mounted on said base member, said releasing member being provided wvith a plate portion having at one end variable thickness gradually increasing in an opposite direction to the direction of displacement of said carriage, the thickness of said end of said plate portion being sufllciently large to release the engagement of said bobbins of full package with spindles, whereby, when said carriage is displaced along said spindle rail, said plate portion contacts with said spindles just under bottom end of bobbins of full package mounted on said spindles and pushes said bobbins in an upward direction by the increasing thickness of said plate portion whereby said engagement of bobbins of full package with said spindles is released.

20. An automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said bobbin supplying means comprises a bobbin container mounted on said carriage, a bare bobbin shifter disposed in said bobbin container and driven by said drive means, and a conduit for feeding bare bobbins from the top end portion of said bobbin shifter to a supplying position of bare bobbins to spindles.

21. Automatic bobbin exchanging apparatus for use in a textile machine having at least one spindle rail and a row of spaced spindles disposed on said rail with constant spindle spacing, said spindles being adapted to receive cops, comprising a carriage movable along said spindle rail, driving means on said carriage, a rotable dofling device mounted on said carriage, said dofiing device comprising a spiral dofiintg roller having a spiral packageengaging surface, means for connecting said roller with said driving means to rotate said roller, and means for bringing said roller successively into position for engagement of said spiral surface with a full packaged cop on a spindle to doff said cop from said spindle by rotation of said roller.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,381,482 8/1945 Asbill 57-52 2,661,589 12/1953 Haythornthwaite 5752 3,328,948 7/1967 Du Buis et al 5753 3,344,594 10/1967 Takenura et a1 5753 STANLEY N. GILREATH, Primary Examiner.

WERNER H. SCHROEDER, Assistant Examiner. 

